Lesson- 'Expanding Your Chord Vocabulary'

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	CONNECTOR CHORDS But let’s not stop with those basic chords. You can add a little more variety in your songs by using two common connector chords: the 1/3 (1 over 3) and 5/7 (5 over 7). Here are several examples of these chords:

	They have specific jobs to do in a chord progression, connecting the seven basic chords, so their use is very logical and predictable. Let’s look at the 1/3 chord. It’s always next to a 4 chord. Using the key of G as an example, the 1/3 chord would be a G/B. The top letter (or number) indicates the chord (G), and the bottom one stands for the bass note (or lowest note) of the chord (B, second fret, fifth string). If you look at the chord diagram, you’ll see that it’s just a G chord with a different bass note. The B note is already in the chord, so all you’re doing is leaving out the usual G bass note. If you’re strumming a guitar in an undisciplined manner, hitting all the strings every time you strum, you won’t be able to hear the difference between a G chord and a G/B. Play a G chord this way: hit the bass-note G (third fret, sixth string) by itself first, then strum the rest of the strings. Now, to play the G/B, hit the bass-note B (second fret, fifth string) and then strum. Now, do the same thing with a C chord: hit the C note (third fret, fifth string) first and then strum. Hitting the correct bass note is the key. In the G to G/B to C chord progression, you can hear the bass note walk up from G to B to C. Here’s how that progression might lead back to the 1 chord: G G/B C D7 G 1 1/3 4 5⁷ 1 So any time you want to go from a 1 chord to a 4 chord, you can connect them with a 1/3. That’s the first of the 1/3 chord’s two jobs. The second job is connecting a 4 to a 2m. In the key of G, the progression would be C–G/B–Am, as in this example: C G/B Am D7 G 4 1/3 2m 5⁷ 1 Now for the 5/7 chord. This one’s really easy. The 5/7 chord always connects a 1 chord to a 6m chord, no matter which comes first. So, in the key of G, it would be G–D/F#–Em (1 to 5/7 to 6m) or Em–D/F#–G (6m to 5/7 to 1).
	ADDING COLOR OK, now we’ve got our basic major and minor chords and we know how to connect them with our two connectors, but suppose we want to add more color or texture to our songs. The most important color chords are the add9 and sus4 chords. Let’s start with the add9 chords. Using the key of G as an example, let’s play a Gadd9:

	What we’re doing is adding the A note (second fret, third string) to the G chord. (It’s a 9 because it’s nine scale tones up from the root G.) What would you call that sound? My students have said "open," "spacey," "wistful." Close intervals give it a certain character. You could play the A note on the top of the chord, but it wouldn’t have the same effect. The add9’s are best used on the 1 chord and 4 chord (or both). Remember, the add9’s are options and will sound a little too modern for traditional music. Here are a few more examples of add9 chords:

	The other common color chord is the sus4. The one most people learn first is the Dsus4. Just add your pinky (third fret, first string) to a D chord. The "sus" means suspended, not sustained. The sus4 chord usually goes back to the major chord (Dsus4 to D) before it goes to the next chord. Sus4’s are most common on the 5 chord (or 5⁷ chord). You can also use them on the 1 chord (especially in intros and verses on ballads and mid-tempo songs). Here are some other examples of sus4 chords:

	If you want to add an edgy blues or rock sound to your songs, try these two chords: the b3 and the b7. In the key of G, they would be Bb and F. Try them along with the 1, 4, and 5 chords (and go easy on the minors, connectors, and color chords).

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